The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team began playing in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and joined the NFL as part of the AAFC–NFL merger in 1950. [1] The team played their home games at Cleveland Stadium from 1946 to 1995 before moving to Cleveland Browns Stadium, where they have played since 1999. [2] The Browns did not play from 1996 to 1998 when the team's owner, Art Modell, moved the team to Baltimore, Maryland and formed the Baltimore Ravens. The team was reactivated under new ownership in Cleveland in 1999. [3] The Browns are currently owned by Jimmy Haslam III. [4]
There have been 18 non-interim head coaches for the Browns franchise. Their first head coach was Paul Brown, who coached for 17 complete seasons. [5] Brown is also the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (214), the most regular season game wins (158), the most playoffs games coached (14), and the most playoff game wins (9). Brown is the only Browns head coach to win an AAFC championship, winning four. Brown and Blanton Collier have led the Browns to NFL championships. Brown won the Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year three times, the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year once, [6] and was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach. [7] Five coaches have won Coach of the Year awards: Brown (1949, 1951, 1953, 1957), Forrest Gregg (1976), Sam Rutigliano (1979, 1980), Marty Schottenheimer (1986), and Kevin Stefanski (2020).
Since their reactivation in 1999, the Browns have had significant turnover at the head coaching position. Ten men have coached the Browns since 1999, and only two have reached the postseason: Butch Davis (2002) and Stefanski (2020 and 2023).
# | Number of coaches [N 1] |
GC | Games coached |
W | Wins |
L | Losses |
T | Ties |
Win% | Winning percentage |
† | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player |
* | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Browns |
# [8] | Image | Name | Term [N 2] | Regular season | Playoffs | Achievements | Ref. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | ||||||
1 | Paul Brown † | 1946–1962 | 214 | 158 | 48 | 8 | .767 | 14 | 9 | 5 | .643 | Four AAFC championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949) [9] Three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955) [10] Seven NFL Conference championships (1950–55, 1957) 1949, 1951, and 1953 Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year [11] | [5] [7] | |
2 | Blanton Collier* | 1963–1970 | 112 | 76 | 34 | 2 | .691 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | NFL Champion in 1964 Four Eastern conference champions (1964, 1965, 1968, 1969) Three Century Division Champions (1967,1968, 1969) | [12] | |
3 | Nick Skorich | 1971–1974 | 56 | 30 | 24 | 2 | .556 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | AFC Central Division Champions 1971 | [13] | |
4 | Forrest Gregg ‡ | 1975–1977 | 41 | 18 | 23 | 0 | .439 | — | — | — | — | 1976 Associated Press (AP) NFL Coach of the Year [14] | [15] | |
– | Dick Modzelewski* [N 3] | 1977 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | — | — | — | — | [16] | ||
5 | Sam Rutigliano* | 1978–1984 | 97 | 47 | 50 | 0 | .485 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1979 and 1980 UPI NFL Coach of the Year, [6] AFC Central Division Champions 1980 | [17] | |
6 | Marty Schottenheimer [N 4] | 1984–1988 | 71 | 44 | 27 | 0 | .620 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 1986 UPI NFL Coach of the Year [6] Three AFC Central Division Champions (1985, 1986 and 1987) | [18] | |
7 | Bud Carson* | 1989–1990 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 1 | .458 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | AFC Central Division Champions 1989 | [19] | |
– | Jim Shofner* [N 5] | 1990 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | — | — | — | — | [20] | ||
8 | Bill Belichick | 1991–1995 | 80 | 36 | 44 | 0 | .450 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | [21] | ||
— [N 6] | 1996–1998 | |||||||||||||
9 | Chris Palmer* | 1999–2000 | 32 | 5 | 27 | 0 | .156 | — | — | — | — | [22] | ||
10 | Butch Davis* | 2001–2004 | 59 | 24 | 35 | 0 | .407 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | [23] | ||
– | Terry Robiskie [N 7] | 2004 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | — | — | — | — | [24] | ||
11 | Romeo Crennel | 2005–2008 | 64 | 24 | 40 | 0 | .375 | — | — | — | — | [25] | ||
12 | Eric Mangini | 2009–2010 | 32 | 10 | 22 | 0 | .313 | — | — | — | — | [26] | ||
13 | Pat Shurmur | 2011–2012 | 32 | 9 | 23 | 0 | .281 | — | — | — | — | [27] | ||
14 | Rob Chudzinski* | 2013 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | — | — | — | — | [28] | ||
15 | Mike Pettine* | 2014–2015 | 32 | 10 | 22 | 0 | .313 | — | — | — | — | [29] | ||
16 | Hue Jackson | 2016–2018 | 40 | 3 | 36 | 1 | .088 | — | — | — | — | [30] | ||
– | Gregg Williams [N 8] | 2018 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | — | — | — | — | [31] | ||
17 | Freddie Kitchens* | 2019 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | — | — | — | — | [32] | ||
18 | Kevin Stefanski* [N 9] | 2020–present | 67 | 37 | 30 | 0 | .552 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2020 AP NFL Coach of the Year | [33] [34] |
William Laird Cowher is an American sports analyst, former football player and coach. Following a six-year playing career as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as a head coach in the NFL for 15 seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He began his coaching career as an assistant under Marty Schottenheimer for the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, serving as the latter's defensive coordinator from 1989 to 1991. Cowher was named head coach of the Steelers in 1992, whom he led until his retirement following the 2006 season. After retiring, he joined The NFL Today as a studio analyst.
Leonard Guy Ford Jr. was an American professional football player who was an offensive and defensive end from 1948 to 1958. He played college football for the University of Michigan and professional football for the Los Angeles Dons, Cleveland Browns and Green Bay Packers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976 and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1996.
Martin Edward Schottenheimer was an American football linebacker and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 2006. He was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs for 10 seasons, the Cleveland Browns and the San Diego Chargers for five each, and the Washington Redskins for one. He ranks seventh in regular season wins with 200, and has the most wins of an NFL head coach to not win a Super Bowl. After coaching in the NFL, he won a 2011 championship in his one season with the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League (UFL). He was inducted to the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2010.
William E. Callahan is an American football coach who is the offensive line coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for the 2002 and 2003 seasons and led them to Super Bowl XXXVII. He was also the head coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2004 to 2007 and the offensive line coach and interim head coach for the Washington Redskins from 2015 to 2019. Callahan is considered to be one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL.
Brian Winfield Sipe is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1974 to 1983. He then played in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons.
Sam William Rutigliano is an American former football coach who is a television football analyst for WEWS, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland. He served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1978 to 1984, compiling a record of 47–50. Rutigliano was the head football coach at Liberty University from 1989 to 1999, tallying a mark of 67–53.
Terrance Joseph Robiskie is a former American football coach and player. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Raiders, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Abraham Gibron was an American professional football player and coach. Gibron played 11 seasons as a guard in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) in the 1940s and 1950s, mostly with the Cleveland Browns. He was then hired as an assistant coach for the NFL's Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears before becoming head coach of the Bears between 1972 and 1974.
Richard Blair Modzelewski was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and the Cleveland Browns. He also served as interim head coach of the Browns in the final game of the 1977 season. Modzelewski was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
James Bernard Shofner was an American football player and coach at both the collegiate and professional levels. He was twice a head coach: first at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1974 to 1976, then in an interim capacity with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) in 1990.
William Augustus "Dub" Jones is an American former professional football player who was a halfback for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and the old All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily for the Cleveland Browns. He shares the NFL record for touchdowns scored in a single game, with six.
Lyvonia Albert "Stump" Mitchell is an American football coach and former player who last served as the running backs coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He served as head football coach at Morgan State University from 1996 to 1998 and Southern University from 2010 to 2012, compiling an overall college football record of 14–42. Mitchell played collegiately at The Citadel and thereafter was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a running back and return specialist for the Cardinals from 1981 to 1989.
The history of the Cleveland Browns American football team began in 1944 when taxi-cab magnate Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride secured a Cleveland, Ohio, franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Paul Brown, who coach Bill Walsh once called the "father of modern football", was the team's namesake and first coach. From the beginning of play in 1946 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the Cleveland Browns were a great success. Cleveland won each of the AAFC's four championship games before the league dissolved in 1949. The team then moved to the more established National Football League (NFL), where it continued to dominate. Between 1950 and 1955, Cleveland reached the NFL championship game every year, winning three times.
The 1980 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 35th overall, and 31st season in the National Football League. The Browns finished the regular season with eleven wins and five losses, and their first division title since 1971, winning a tiebreaker with the Houston Oilers. The 1980 Browns were known as the Kardiac Kids for having several games decided in the final moments. The 1980 season was the first time that Cleveland had qualified for the postseason since 1972. Also, for the second straight year, Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano was named NFL Coach of the Year, and quarterback Brian Sipe was named the league's Most Valuable Player.
Mike Priefer is an American football coach who was the special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He has almost two decades of pro coaching experience.
Kevin Lawrence Stefanski is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Vikings from 2006 to 2019 and was the offensive coordinator during his final two seasons. Stefanski left Minnesota to become the Browns' head coach in 2020, where he led the team to their first playoff appearance since 2002. He was named NFL Coach of the Year after the season, becoming the first Browns coach to receive the honor since 1976 and the first following the franchise's 1999 return as an expansion team. He led the Browns to a second playoff appearance in 2023.